Lynnwood OKs zoning for Costco, residential project

LYNNWOOD — A huge project called Lynnwood Place that would bring a mix of stores and apartments across the street from the Alderwood mall has received the green light.

The former site of Lynnwood High School will become 990,000 square feet of shops and homes.

Costco is planned as the anchor tenant, and Texas-based developer Cypress Equities also wants to build several mid-rise apartment buildings with retail stores, restaurants and offices located on the street level.

On Monday night, the Lynnwood City Council unanimously approved zoning changes to the city’s comprehensive plan to shift the 40-acre site from public to mixed use. The council also rezoned the property to commercial/residential zoning.

The changes were made contingent on the developer submitting detailed plans the council can agree to, said Paul Krauss, Lynnwood’s community development director.

“It’s is a big step forward, especially when you consider the applications were first submitted six years ago,” Krauss said. “Costco and Cypress are very excited to move forward.”

Krauss estimated that the City Council will see engineering plans from the developer in four to six months. Details to be considered include architecture, landscaping, entrances and more, along with a review of the development’s environmental impact statement.

After completion, Lynnwood Place would rival the size of the mall at 1.3 million square feet. Costco would take up to 160,000 square feet on the north 15 acres of the property.

The development proposal includes the construction of a four-lane bypass road that would wrap around Lynnwood Place and connect Alderwood Mall Parkway with 184th Street SW on the north and west sides of the property.

The development has been in the works since about 2007 when the Edmonds School District Board of Directors began working on a development agreement with Cypress Equities. The economic recession caused a hiatus in the process, Krauss said.

The former high school site has been vacant since 2009, when students moved into the new Lynnwood High School building on North Road. The voter-approved bonds that built the new high school also included language that allows the district to lease the site of the former school building. Lease income will go into the district’s capital fund.